The Grand Council of Basel-Stadt (German: Grosser Rat) is the legislature of the canton of Basel-Stadt, in Switzerland. Basel-Stadt has a unicameral legislature. The Grand Council has 100 seats, with members elected every four years. Members of the canton's executive, the Executive Council, are elected on the same day.
At the 2008 election, held on 14 September 2008, the Social Democratic Party fared badly, but retained its dominant position, with more than twice as many seats as the next-largest party, the Swiss People's Party (SVP). The legislature was reduced from 130 seats to 100, making all existing parties to lose ground. However, the SVP and Green Party both did relatively well, as did the new centrist Green Liberal Party, which won five seats.
At the 2012 election, held on 28 October 2012, the Volksaktion, a populist anti-immigration party, was able to win two seats, while the Evangelical People's Party lost all but one of their seats.[1]
At the 2016 election, held on 23 October 2016, the Social Democrats, the Greens and the Liberals won the election, while the Christian Democratic People's Party, the Green Liberals and the FDP lost popular vote and seats in the Grand Council. The Volksaktion lost their two seats they won four years before.[2]
Election
The council is re-elected every four years. Like other legislatures in Switzerland, elections use party list proportional representation. There are five constituencies. The communities of Riehen and Bettingen each form a constituency, whilst the city of Basel is divided into three constituencies: the area north of the river Rhine is Kleinbasel, whilst the remaining Grossbasel is arbitrarily split into Grossbasel East and Grossbasel West.
Constituency
Seats
Grossbasel East
27
Grossbasel West
34
Kleinbasel
27
Riehen
11
Bettingen
1
Election overview 1988–2020
This section needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (November 2016)
Election result
Year
SP
FDP
LDP
CVP
DSP
POB
SD1
EVP2
LdU
GPS
FraP
SVP
GB3
glp
419884
18.3
13.9
11.0
10.6
8.2
7.8
7.8
6.2
5.7
5.4
1992
20.7
15.1
12.5
10.3
7.8
5.1
5.5
5.8
2.5
3.5
4.0
3.8
1996
27.0
12.4
10.7
9.5
8.2
6.1
5.8
5.7
3.5
9.4
2000
26.0
12.6
11.3
9.9
6.0
4.6
5.6
GB
010.05
9.6
2004
31.2
11.7
8.6
8.1
4.8
2.9
5.5
12.1
10.9
2008
28.2
10.1
9.0
9.3
3.2
2.2
5.2
13.9
13.0
5.1
2012
30.7
11.1
9.6
7.3
4.2
15.0
11.8
5.0
2016
32.5
9.2
13.8
5.9
1.4
14.3
13.4
4.3
2020
30.0
8.4
14.1
6.3
3.6
11.0
16.6
7.8
Distribution of seats
Year
Total
SP
FDP
LDP
CVP
POB
SD
DSP
LdU
EVP
GPS
PdA
FraP
SVP
GB
glp
others
1988
130
27
19
15
15
12
10
9
8
7
5
2
1
1992
130
32
21
17
15
6
8
10
3
6
3
1
5
3
1996
130
39
17
14
13
8
10
6
7
3
13
2000
130
39
18
16
14
5
6
6
GB
14
12
2004
130
46
17
12
11
6
6
15
16
1
2008
100
32
11
9
8
3
4
14
13
5
1
2012
100
33
12
10
8
1
15
13
5
35
2016
100
34
10
14
7
1
15
14
4
1
2020
100
30
7
14
7
3
11
18
8
2
Footnotes
1 SD: until 2004: SD, 2008: SD/EDU 2 EVP: until 2004: VEW, 2008: EVP 3 GB: 1996: GB, 2000: BastA (Greens and FraP), 2004 and 2008: GB 4 1988: additionally: PvA: 2.0% 5 VA: 2 seats, AB (Aktives Bettingen): 1 seat
